My SkilCraft telescope! In high school, a teacher sparked my interest in astronomy. With little money, I looked to buy a telescope at a yard sale and came on a SkilCraft scope exactly like in your video. The tripod was broken so I couldn't try it out until I got home and mounted it on my dad's camera tripod. If you detach the scope from its ball mount it should fit on a standard camera tripod screw. Optics were beyond terrible. Got a dim view of the moon and that's it. Couldn't even make out Jupiter's moons. The eyepieces were unique. If you unscrew the top you'll see the lens elements are kept in place by a spring. That's right. There is a spring in the eyepiece! After getting rid of this piece of junk, I bought a 60mm refractor, which was the proper beginner scope at the time. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Dave! (I always thought the SkilCraft was from the 1960's).

Thanks for sharing Dave! The Gilbert reflector shows up on Ebay from time to time...

I had a 3 inch reflector,cardboard tube with a clamp to hold it a chair back rather than a tripod.the first thing I tried it out on was a light bulb on a house on a hill 300 yards away.i just checked that on goggle earth! I spent many nights to find and focus that bulb and when I did it came in really looking like a light on a porch.i fiddled with the nuts on the back and it took months to get it focused again! if nothing else these toy scopes taught a boy in the 50's the value of patience